Lennon exhibit at the Lake County Discovery Museum
The new “Give Peace A Chance: John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Bed-in for Peace exhibit at the Lake County Discovery Museum celebrates the life of legendary musician and Beatles member John Lennon and his dream of living in a peaceful world.
The exhibit opens to the public on Saturday, Oct. 9, the date that John Lennon would have turned 70 years old.
Guests can view more than 40 large-format photographs taken during the famous bed-in for peace event staged by Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono from May 26 to June 2, 1969 in Montreal, Canada.
Looking at the images, one is reminded of that week when the world peered into a hotel room to see a long-haired, pajama-clad Lennon, playing his guitar in bed and leading a group of both friends and strangers around him in recording the peace anthem “Give Peace A Chance.
In one photo, Lennon and Ono are surrounded by the media as they sit in their bed. In another shot, Lennon examines a Braille watch that was given to him at the bed-in.
Before arriving at the Lake County Discovery Museum, the “Give Peace A Chance exhibit was shown in only two other places in the world Liverpool, England and Woodstock, N.Y. said Katherine Hamilton-Smith, director of cultural resources for the Lake County Forest Preserves.
A re-creation of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel room where the bed-in took place is one exhibit highlight, Hamilton-Smith said.
“There's a bed, of course and we also have things that accumulated behind Lennon during the bed-in, like flowers, plants and posters that people brought to the event, she said. “The bed-in became such a magnet for energy.
As part of the Lennon exhibit, museum visitors are invited to place their own hopes for peace on a wish tree. The collected wishes will be mailed to the Imagine Peace Tower in Iceland at the close of the exhibit.
“Those wishes can be very personal or very broad, Hamilton-Smith said. “It could be a wish for peace, because your mom and dad are getting a divorce, or maybe about some acrimony at work. All of these very personal wishes for peace will be sent to the Imagine Peace Tower where they can continue their energy and join other wishes.
A special opening day celebration for the exhibit will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 9, at the museum. Refreshments will be served, and music and other activities will honor the life and work of Lennon.
“We hope this exhibit will be a very personal thing for visitors, Hamilton-Smith said. “We hope people just enjoy the pictures and celebrate Lennon's life and his intentions for what the bed-in for peace was supposed to mean.
“Give Peace A Chance: John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Bed-in for Peace
Hours: 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 1 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Exhibit runs Saturday, Oct. 9, through Sunday, Jan. 2, 2011
Location: Lake County Discovery Museum, on Route 176, just west of Fairfield Road in the Lakewood Forest Preserve in Wauconda
Admission: $2.50-$6; children 3 and younger admitted free. On Tuesdays, admission is $3 for adults and those 17 and younger admitted free.
Information: (847) 968-3400 or Museum